From Frederic Bourke's Trial. Outstanding coverage on the testimony this week of Hans Bodmer, Viktor Kozeny's Swiss lawyer, from the Courthouse News Service here and Bloomberg's David Glovin here.

From Glovin's account:

Bodmer, who is testifying for prosecutors in exchange for leniency and admits knowing of the bribery scheme, testified yesterday that he told Bourke about the payments. . . .

[S]peaking methodically through a thick German accent, [he] told jurors he was surprised when Bourke asked him about the “arrangement” [to pay Azeri officials bribes] because it was a “sensitive matter.” After getting permission from Kozeny, Bodmer said he outlined the scheme. Justice Department lawyer Robertson Park asked Bodmer how Bourke responded.

“No specific response,” Bodmer testified.

And from the Courthouse News Service, which described Bodmer as "the gaunt-faced but handsome witness,"

After receiving permission from Kozeny to reveal the details, Bodmer said he took Bourke on a 15- to 20-minute walk outside the hotel [in Baku, Azerbaijan], fearing that the lobby and the rooms may have been bugged. Bodmer testified that at the time he suspected that Bourke already knew about the scheme.

Frederic Bourke is on trial in Manhattan federal court on charges that he invested $8 million with Viktor Kozeny, knowing about the plan to bribe Azeri leaders in a bid to buy the state oil company. Bourke, 63, denies that he knew about Kozeny's bribery, and says he is among the victims who lost a total of $350 million in the scheme.

Bourke is co-founder of luxury handbag brand Dooney & Bourke. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted on all counts, including conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, money laundering, and lying to federal investigators. Kozeny, a Czech national who was also charged with violating the FCPA, is a fugitive living in the Bahamas.

Read all our posts about U.S. v. Kozeny and the prosecution of Frederic Bourke here.

* * *From William Jefferson's Trial. The AP's Matthew Barakat reports on the testimony of the government's first witness here. Vernon Jackson, a Kentucky businessman who already pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to 87 months in prison, said he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in "consulting fees" to Jefferson's wife that were nothing but thinly veiled bribes. Barakat writes,

Jackson is also one of the trial's most important witnesses. Out of numerous bribery schemes that prosecutors allege Jefferson orchestrated, the one involving Jackson was the most advanced and involved the largest payments. . . . He stands to receive a reduction in his sentence in exchange for his testimony against Jefferson.

Jefferson, 62, served nine terms in congress from Louisiana before losing his seat last year. He is charged with soliciting bribes, racketeering, money laundering and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Testimony in his trial in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia started this week. He faces up to 20 years in jail.

Jackson sought business help from Jefferson to land army contracts for his company, iGate. Although the relationship was legitimate at first, Jackson said, Jefferson later told Jackson to hire his wife, Andrea, as a consultant. Jackson said he agreed to pay her $90,000 a year in consulting fees, plus a percentage of profits, but she didn't do any work. "I was paying [Jefferson] to use his office on behalf of iGate," Jackson said.